I appreciate your appreciation
by shallowness
Summary: Daisy makes Andy take the last steps more quickly than he expected. (Daisy/Andy). Spoilers for the last Christmas special.


Title: I appreciate your appreciation  
Author: shallowness  
Fandom: Downton Abbey  
Rating: PG  
Characters/Pairing: Daisy/Andy (Mr Mason/Mrs Patmore implied)  
Summary: Daisy makes Andy take the last steps more quickly than he expected.

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't profit.  
Author's Note: Spoilers for the last Christmas special. My take on these two with added fluff. With big thanks to kingtouchy for beta reading; all errors are mine. 1,185 words.

 **I appreciate your appreciation: shallowness**

The weather is set fair, and they're making the most of it on Yew Tree Farm. That is, Mr Mason is making the most of Andy having an afternoon free. Andy doesn't mind going back up the ladder, not with the memory of last winter and how his work had kept the pigs snug and dry. It's warm, though, and his shirt is soon off.

He started off the job in hand like he used to approach reading, taking his time to work it out and picking up speed once he knew what he was doing. When he hears the clink of a jug and Daisy, by the sound of the footsteps, down on the ground, he realises how thirsty he is.

"I'll be just a minute," he calls out, "I need to finish this bit." It's tricky enough that he has to give it all his concentration to make a neat job of it, and Daisy is quite the distraction as Thomas has observed.

It may be a long minute, but when it's done, he can enjoy his break with Daisy with an easy mind, Andy tells himself, and pushes away the thought of her and a cool drink.

So it is with satisfaction that he puts his tools down and then lets himself look at her, which is when he sees that she's watching him. There's a look in her eyes that isn't dreamy, exactly, but it has Andy rushing down the steps with no caution, ignoring the tray that she's set down beside her.

For he's kissing her and it makes every kiss they've had before seem timid. He's pulling her flush to him, in a way he's never dared before, responding to what he saw in her eyes, trying to pour himself into the kiss.

If he's honest, Andy's expecting Daisy to push him away, but she tugs him closer, an invitation he wants so badly to—.

She mews as he puts some distance between them, and the noise is so Daisy that even though he hates to disappoint her, a little sense comes back into his fuddled brain.

"Mr Mason'd tan my hide," he bursts out, breathing hard, heart hammering.

"No, he wouldn't," Daisy argues, but it's without thinking. Andy knows full well that her father-in-law would thrash him for embracing her like that when they're only courting. Andy tries hard not to think about how much he enjoyed holding her so close to him and kissing her so thoroughly. It's a tough task when her lips are so pink and she's pouting as if she enjoyed it too.

Andy dives for the jug and a cup, pours himself the dandelion and burdock, and his hand is shaking like Mr Carson's. Well, not so badly, but it's not steady either. He gulps the drink down and still his heartbeat's racing like a train.

"He'd be right to," Andy says.

"What?" Daisy asks, as if she's far away. He sneaks a look at her, and her gaze is dreamy, but if the dreams are anything like the ones he's going to be having...well.

"I shouldn't be kissing you like that. It isn't proper when we're not—" Andy stumbles at the word, although he's thought about marriage, once or twice, since they've started stepping out and walking in step. Especially since she moved to the farm to stay there while he's had to leave, trudging back through the cold and the rain with the image of her waving goodbye or the imprint of her lips on his all that warm him. "And it's not that I don't want to."

"Kiss me?" she asks, and he can hear the breathiness in her voice, and he stares fixedly at a wall, not daring to look at a pink and flushed version of his Daisy, all the more desirable than he's ever found her before. Because yes, he wants to kiss her, but not just that.

"Marry you," he says as steadily as he can. "It's not that I don't want to marry you, Daisy—"

"Oh."

"But I haven't saved enough and—."

He hears her take a step closer to him, and he clutches at the cup. Stares at the wall.

"What's that got to do with 'owt?" she asks, and he has to look at her now. Daisy in fighting mode, with bright big eyes. They all know to watch out in the kitchen when she looks like this.

"Well, I—. You deserve—"

"You could move in here. Mr Mason is training you up, and I don't think Thomas or the family'd object. Not like they will when Mrs Patmore moves out. They can spare a footman overnight. Besides I think it'd be more sensible if we got married sooner rather than later."

He can agree with that last statement, the way he's feeling: the sooner they're married, the sooner he can kiss her without stopping. Kiss her and all that comes with it.

"Sensible, yes," he says. "But never mind sensible. Do you want to?"

"What? Want to kiss you?"

He's been outdoors all afternoon; that's why his cheeks are red. It's not the teasing note in her voice. It's not the fear and hope that she knows him well enough by now to read his mind.

"Don't tease right now. I might be proposing to you. Do you want to get wed?"

Her hand flutters around his chest, as if she doesn't dare to let it rest there. He both wants her to put her hand where his heart is and doesn't. In this moment, Andy is full of want.

"If you are proposing to me, then, yes. My answer's yes."

And he's kissing her again, diving in as swiftly as before, but holding her around the waist like something precious. His precious girl with her wonderful eyes and her lively temper, her clever hands and her big heart.

"He won't tan your hide, you know," she says later. "I think he'll be happy."

They've talked about William Mason before, back when Andy wondered if her being a widow would be a problem. He learned he wouldn't be competing with a romantic ideal, that what the marriage had given Daisy was chiefly a father. That 'father' has been good to Andy, has even been encouraging about him and Daisy, but wanting to marry her is a different matter.

"I hope so." Andy says.

"Give over, of course he will." Daisy pours Andy another cupful. "If you finish that roof first, he'll be in a good mood."

Andy smiles at that, though he's quailing a little. It feels a bit old-fashioned, asking her father-in-law when Daisy's already said yes, but Mr Mason could refuse to let him move in and, more importantly, Andy wants his approval.

"Listen to me," Daisy says in a more serious voice. "He knows we love each other and we make each other happy. And I think that's as good a basis as any for getting married."

Andy nods. "And when he says I'm the most fortunate man in England, I won't disagree."

Fin


End file.
